The Court of Justice
by hinata606
Summary: Phoenix and co are resting after a particularly long case. However fate doesn't seem to want them to rest. New friendships, foes, rivals and mysteries. Can Phoenix and co save justice? Please read and review! Thanks everyone!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone!! All right, I need a massive favour from you guys, this is my first ever Phoenix Wright fanfic and mystery/comedy at that, please review me and tell me how to improve, if I had kept the characters the same or not, please help.**

**Please enjoy this chapter and hope you like it. See Ya!!!**

**Please REVIEW, THANK YOU!!! ^_^**

**Chapter 1 - Celebration**

Phoenix yawned loudly as he slumped further into the soft cushioned chair. He was sitting at a well known restaurant celebrating the success of his case.

It had obviously not been him who had thrown the party, straight after winning the case Edgeworth had decided to get better acquainted, this mainly caused by the power of persuasion that both Maya and Pearl's puppy dog eyes held.

Edgeworth being tired after a particularly long case had not bothered to argue and went along with the girls. Both him and Phoenix were currently really tired and were not up for a party but clearly their friends seemed to be and they decided to stay out of this for once.

Phoenix frowning looked to his side to check if Edgeworth was actually enjoying himself, he smirked as he saw that his guess was right, there was just no way Edgeworth would enjoy anything but trampling on people's confidence.

However Edgeworth right now, looked as if he was regretting his decision for a so called celebration as his bill kept piling up, with every three course meal that Maya ordered and surprisingly ate.

Edgeworth sensing Phoenix's look, turned to face him and turned slightly pink as he noticed the smirk on Phoenix's face,

"Unlike you, Wright I can back up my idea with money." Edgeworth smirked seeing Phoenix scowl and turned away.

"You're right Mr. Edgeworth, Nick only takes us out to Burger joints,not that they're bad but nothing as fancy as this." Maya spoke with her mouth full, and started ordering more food. Edgeworth sighed as he realised that he would probably be bankrupt by the end of this 'celebration'.

_**Remind me again to change my partner.**_ Phoenix thought. He was about to fall asleep when he felt something very wet and sticky on his chest. He opened his eyes when he noticed that the table had gone very quiet. He saw that everyone was waiting for something, the three feaster's hands poised.

He felt everyone's gazes on him and looked down on his chest to check exactly what they were looking at. His eyes widened as he saw that a piece of chicken with quite a lot of gravy was right now sliding down his chest, marking his crisp white shirt with trails of brown gravy.

He raised an eyebrow and looked at the three with forks. Gumshoe smiled apologetically.

"Sorry pal. Didn't mean to ya know? The chicken here is too hard. Gravy's quite nice though. You should try some pal!"

"I'm not sure I like your idea of offering me some food to taste, Detective." Phoenix said irritated. He looked beside him to see that Edgeworth still had his serious expression on his face but the sides of his lips were twitching as if they were being restrained from laughing out loud.

"It suits you just Wright, it expresses exactly how much of a fool you are, Wright." Edgeworth said, finally unable to hold back his amusement, his smile broke through to the surface, annoying Phoenix to a greater length.

"That's it! I've had enough, I'm leaving. I need to get some rest." Phoenix said getting up.

"For once you actually are Wright. I have to get going too. I have to leave for Germany in two days." Edgeworth said rising to his feet, meeting Phoenix's tired gaze.

"Stop the bad puns on my name already." Phoenix said without much vigour.

"No wait; I'm not done yet Nick, Mr Edgeworth! Please wait!" Maya cried also getting up her knife poised, her companions in food also got up.

"Yeah, please wait, we have to try the desert!!" Both Pearl and Gumshoe cried in unison. Phoenix and Edgeworth merely shook their heads tiredly and started to leave, Maya, Pearl and Gumshoe latched themselves onto the pair trying to get them to stay.

They had earned themselves quite a number of onlookers when,

"Is that you Maya?" Asked a gentle male voice from behind them.

They all stopped arguing and turned to look at the questioner. Maya gulped down the food in her mouth and turned slightly pink from either choking on the food that she was hurriedly swallowing or probably from the looks that she got from everyone as they saw their questioner was a young man probably in his late teens.

"Um...uh...hi...um...Matt..." Maya said quietly. At this point everyone jerked their heads sharply towards Maya, it was unknown for Maya to ever be this quiet, and it was not natural.

_**Note to self: invite this boy to the office everytime Maya wants watch the Steel Samurai.**_ Phoenix thought quickly smiling seeing the effect the boy had on Maya.

_**Note to self: invite this boy to every celebration party that I throw that involves Maya, would save money.**_ Edgeworth thought both he and Phoenix shared a knowing glance; they shook their heads and cleared their throats.

"Right, seeing that you've got company, I'll make my leave. I have to prepare my journey." Edgeworth said, tossing a pay check towards the waiter and leaving.

"Wait sir, I'm coming as well. I don't want to pay extra!" Gumshoe shouted and left after Edgeworth, abandoning his half-eaten food.

"Well then, I guess I have to go too. I'll meet you back at the office Maya." Phoenix said getting ready to leave.

"Oh wait, I didn't mean to interrupt, I just heard Maya's voice and wanted to check if it really was her. I'm Matt Henderson by the way, trainee lawyer. I was Maya's senior by two years back at school." Matt said extending his hand. He was quite a good looking young man with dark brown hair and brown eyes.

"Phoenix Wright, attorney at law. Good to meet you."

"Mr. Wright?! Wow, I really hadn't thought I would meet you here of all places! I've heard of all your cases! Wow, Maya I didn't know that you were with one of the best defence attorneys in the city!" Matt said with excitement.

Maya blushed under his intense gaze and murmured slowly,

"Um...yeah...uh...Nick ...was...Mia's...assistant..." She said shyly. Phoenix's eyebrows went right past the 'shocked' line to 'beyond shocked' line. He had never in a million years expected Maya to murmur anything; he didn't even know that this word even existed in her psychological dictionary!

"Uh, right! I guess I have to get going now, can't keep my clients waiting." Phoenix said cheerfully _**if I had any at all**_, he thought sourly and started to move.

Suddenly Maya's face took on a look of panic, she looked at Phoenix and then to her left at Pearl, who had already moved towards Phoenix.

"Uh, uh, I have to go too!IhavetohelpNick!!" Maya spoke very quickly.

"Huh?" the other three asked in unison since they didn't understand a word she just said.

"I-I have to go. I...have...to...help...Nick...sorry..." Maya said shyly. Phoenix looked at Maya, and then down at Pearl who had an eyebrow raised, clearly she hadn't seen this side of her cousin before either.

"Hey, no problem. It's good to see you though Maya, it's been ages! Mr Wright you will have to help me sometime, I'm training to be a lawyer as well, hopefully I will get to a good standard like you." Matt said cheerfully.

_**Hopefully you won't go broke like me either.**_ Phoenix thought smiling.

"All right see you then. Maybe we can meet up sometime later Maya. Goodbye Mr Wright, and um, little girl." Matt said and left.

The minute he left, both Phoenix and Pearl turned to look at Maya, who was still red from hearing Matt's departing statement. Phoenix smiled sinisterly and crossed his arms.

"So, Maya who is he? By looking at your face right now I would say that you know him very well."

"No, no, no, he really was my senior back at high school! He knew Mia as well, and he even told me that Mia inspired him to become a lawyer. I'm not sure if he knows that Mia's dead...he'd be heart broken though if he knew...he really liked Mia even if she was seven years older than him..." Maya said sadly.

"Mystic Maya I thought Mr. Nick was your special someone!Why are you going red when that man is around?!" Pearl asked angrily, her cheeks puffed out.

Phoenix laid a hand on Pearl's shoulder and laughed lightly. Bending down to Pearl's level, he whispered slowly in her ear,

"That's because that man is her special someone, I'm just her special friend and you're her special cousin." Phoenix said smiling.

"That's not true!! Matt isn't my special anything! I'm going home!" Maya said reverting back to her old self, her cheeks puffed out she started to walk towards the door.

"Hey Maya, wait up!"

Maya turned around to see Matt running towards her, her usual stance had given way to a shy demeanour. Matt caught up to her and panted. After a few seconds he straightened up and smiled at Maya.

"Maya, it's been a long time since we've seen each other right? So I was thinking that maybe we could meet up some where some place later. So...maybe we could exchange numbers?" Matt asked helplessly, sporting a lightly pink face.

Hesitantly and shyly Maya and Matt exchanged numbers and departed their own ways. Phoenix had been watching all of this and smiled. _**Looks like little Maya's all grown up. Hmm, I wonder if I have to pay for the wedding? Better contact Edgeworth first!I might go broke to the extreme!**_ Phoenix thought rubbing his chin.


	2. Chapter 2 The Henderson Brothers

**Hey you guys!! Sorry I'm late but I made this chapter extra long- longest chapter I've ever written. C'mon you guys show some moral support here and review me pleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Thank you so much _Dragonridingattorney43_ for your review, I really appreciate you taking your time and reviewing me. It honestly helps and encourages me. Thanks a lot. Hope you like this chapter and please review. Thanks!^_^**

**Everyone I hope you all enjoy this chapter and _please_ review me. Thanks a lot everyone!!**

**See ya later!!**

**Ch 2 – The Henderson Brothers**

Edgeworth sighed as he re-read the letter again. The letter was written by one of his father's close friends, one Mr. Shillington. The last time he had seen him, his father was still alive and he was only a child. Mr Shillington currently resides in Germany enjoying his retirement.

The letter that Edgeworth held in his hands right now was inviting him to a private party held to celebrate Mr. Shillington's son's promotion to a judge at a very young age.

Edgeworth of course had had enough of a party to last his lifetime last night, but it was bad manners to refuse an invitation sent from all the way from Germany. Besides he was going to Germany anyway, this just meant that he had to depart two days early, today to be more precise.

Sighing again Edgeworth picked up his phone, he needed to let Wright know that he was leaving today, after all Wright insisted several times that he would be sending off Edgeworth at the airport, even though it was not needed, to which Wright replied that 'that was what friends do'.

He dialled Wright's number, and heard it ring. Obviously Wright had not woken up yet, since the phone was ringing several times now. Finally Wright picked up his phone from the other end.

"Hello, Phoenix Wright. Att-"

"Wright, its Edgeworth. I called to tell you that I'm leaving today for Germany. Something came up."

"What?! You mean right now?! Is something the matter, has something happened?!"

"Yes, I mean right now. And no nothing happened. I've been invited to a party that my father's friend is throwing, unfortunately I have to go. So I'll see you later. Bye."

"Wait, Edgeworth! I'm coming to the airport with you."

"There's no need Wright. I won't trouble you, you must be really busy."

"Busy, wow, I wish I could say that but no I'm not. Don't worry I'll be there. See ya Edgeworth."

With that Phoenix kept the phone down. Edgeworth sighed and put the phone down. _Can the guy not get the hint? Who am I kidding? He never had any spare brain cells for common sense!_ Edgeworth thought grimly and picked up his already packed suitcase and jacket. He locked his room behind him and walked towards the car park.

**20 minutes later**

Edgeworth waited patiently at the airport as his luggage was getting checked. He was hoping that he could leave before Wright arrived. To his dismay a cheerful Phoenix waved at him from the side line. Edgeworth sighed weakly and walked over to him.

"Wright. Thanks for coming." Edgeworth said half – heartedly.

"That's no problem Edgeworth; we are friends after all even though you forget that during court cases." Phoenix said a little sarcastically. Edgeworth looked past him searching.

"Where are Pearls and Maya? Don't tell me you left those two alone in your office?!" Edgeworth said raising his eyebrows.

Phoenix waved his arms defensively around him, "No, no, no, it's not that at all! Pearls is back at Kurain and Maya well... she's got a date." Phoenix said smiling.

"A date?!" Edgeworth asked incredulously.

"I'm not entirely sure if it's a date exactly, Maya claimed it to be 'catching up'. Remember that guy from last night? His name's Matt Henderson, he was Maya's senior by two years in high school. He's also training to be an attorney like me!" Phoenix said cheerfully.

"You let your big head grow because this guy said that you were a good attorney and let him take Maya without finding out more about him didn't you?!" Edgeworth sighed exasperated. He rubbed his forehead with his right hand tiredly.

"No, well, maybe but I trust him, he seemed like a really good guy!" Phoenix said quickly.

"Whatever Wright, but don't expect me to clean up after your mess. Don't get Maya into more trou-" Edgeworth was cut off by Phoenix's ringing phone. Phoenix hurriedly pulled it out of his pocket.

"Hel--"Phoenix was cut out by a loud scream.

"Niiiiiiiiiccccckkkk!!!!!!!!!!!!" Maya's shrill voice was heard from the phone.

"Um, Maya are you okay?" Phoenix asked slowly. He had a bad feeling about this, a very bad feeling.

"No! You have to help Nick, Matt's in trouble! We need you to come right aw--"

" please I need your help! You have to come straight away, my brother's in trouble. You have to take the case please!" Matt cut Maya off in the phone. Phoenix was able to hear Maya's distraught voice in the back ground. He quickly jotted down the address, and looked at Edgeworth.

Edgeworth had a smirk tracing his face. His raised eyebrow sounded his silent question.

"I'm not entirely sure what's going on but looks like Maya already is in trouble." Phoenix said tentatively.

"I didn't even have to finish my sentence before it came true." Edgeworth sighed. "I can't help you this time Wright, I won't be taking any cases for a few days as I'm going to Germany, so good luck and don't mess this up." Edgeworth nodded at Phoenix once, and left through to the security area to get checked.

Phoenix sighed and thought wearily, _This is just going to be another free case, man I've got to stop this charity work_.

**30 minutes later at the Henderson manor**

Phoenix whistled in awe as he saw the huge manor in front of him. He had never seen a house so big, he didn't know houses as big as these even existed, and he was a little surprised to find that it did, and that he would be helping the house members for free who were obviously filthy rich.

Sighing he trudged down the pathway to the front door which was at the moment being occupied by a number of policemen and policewomen. Frowning Phoenix walked forward only to be stopped by one of the police.

"Excuse me sir but this area is restricted. Please leave."

Phoenix smirked slowly and brought out his badge that he loved flashing around, or rubbing in 'people's faces' as he put it. "I'm Phoenix Wright, attorney at Law. One of the house members has requested my help and I am here on that business."

The police officer was about to protest when a huge voice boomed through,

"Let him through Lee, he ain't lyin'."

Phoenix turned around to see Detective Dick Gumshoe walking towards him with a lopsided grin.

"Hey pal, you've got yourself a tough case this time pal. There's nothin' you can do about this pal, this guy's lost, I tell ya. There's a pile of evidence stacked against him ya know." The 'good' Detective told him.

_Why is it that he says the exact thing every time I get a case? And why is it that I win those cases? _Phoenix thought dryly, smiling on the outside.

"Maya and the guy from last night are inside pal, if you wanna see them."

"You seem to be awfully cheerful today Detective, is something the matter?" Phoenix asked curious.

"Yeah, since both Mr Edgeworth and Ms Von Karma are out of the country, we have this new prosecutor helping us out." Detective Gumshoe said smiling cheerfully. "Doesn't treat me as bad as Von Karma, and very respectful, makes me actually enjoy my work!"

"Really? So, yeah...um I think I'll go in and find out more, I'll come see you later Detective." Saying that Phoenix quickly escaped the awkward silence and went into the manor.

Inside Matt was standing tense talking to a couple of police officers, often shaking his head and sometimes nodding. Maya was trying to comfort a young woman who was crying her heart out. Deciding not to risk the need to say comforting words Phoenix walked over to Matt, who was rubbing his head with growing frustration.

Noticing Phoenix walking over to them, Matt used him as an excuse to cut off his talk with the police officers. He walked over to Phoenix quickly and smiled nervously.

"Mr Wright I'm glad you came. Please I need your help, there's so much going on I don't really know what to do!" Matt said tiredly rubbing his forehead again. Phoenix felt a tinge of pity for the young man standing in front of him.

"Mr Henderson please calm down. Why don't we talk about this in detail since I don't really know what's going on here?" Phoenix said trying to get Matt to cool down.

Matt nodded tiredly. "Please Mr. Wright call me Matt. Let's go over to the garden, we might get some peace and quiet there." Leading the way, Matt signalled to Maya saying her to stay there, Maya nodded hesitantly and smiling weakly at Phoenix.

In the garden Matt sat down on the clean green grass, placing his head in his hands. Phoenix sat next to him and started asking him the questions.

"Matt so please explain to me what exactly has taken place without missing any details."

"Yes sir. My older brother was found dead in his room about an hour ago. The door was locked from the inside.

He had a stab wound to his chest. The weapon used was a common kitchen knife, and my dead brother's fingerprints were all over it.

The police came to the conclusion that he committed suicide, however just about half an hour ago a few of the investigators found that my brother's finger tips and lips had gone blue, the forensics experts said that he had been poisoned with a low dosage of cyanide.

And so my eldest brother has been charged with the murder of my other brother, and has been taken to the detention centre. His motive apparently was to inherit my brother's share of the family wealth as well." Matt explained carefully.

Phoenix had been listening to this in shocked silence. _This is going to be one tough case but how do I know that Matt's brother is not guilty. Hmmm...._ Phoenix thought rubbing his chin.

"What makes you so sure that your elder brother had not tried to kill your old--" Phoenix cut off confused. "Um, could you please tell me the names of your brothers?"

"The one who's been arrested is Will, his full name is William but everyone calls him Will, he's a doctor. The one who's dead is Max, his full name is Maxwell but yeah... he was unemployed."

"So... what's your full name?"

"Um... Mathew..."

"Ah... okay, well let's start with this. What makes you so sure that Will didn't kill Max?" Phoenix asked after the unease.

"Well for one Will was never that kind of person; he was always the one of helping people he could never kill.

And two Will and Max were quite close when they were younger there is only a two year difference between them, I was personally never close with them what with the massive age difference – Will's 29 and Max was 27, and I'm 20, but I could see that they were quite close.

And three Will never was interested in money, it was Max who wanted the money bikes and girls, but it wasn't Will's thing. If Max wanted Will's share he could have just asked Will and he would've gotten it in seconds." Matt explained.

"Hmm.... so who was that crying woman at the front?" Phoenix asked remembering the scene he first came to.

"Oh, that's Grace, Max's girlfriend. She was the one who discovered the body first. She said that she tried to wake up Max but his door was locked, she tried calling him but since she didn't get any answer she got one of the servants to break open the door and she found Max dead just lying there." Max said.

"Alright, I guess what we can do now is to go and visit your brother at the Detention Centre. Let's go." Phoenix said getting up and dusting his trousers. Matt followed suit also dusting his jeans.

**30 minutes later at the Detention Centre**

Phoenix was surprised when he saw Matt's brother for the first time. He looked just like an ordinary man, but he knew from his last case, with Matt Engarde that you can't really trust anyone's appearances. Will Henderson was a man aged 29, with short light brown hair and blue eyes, he looked like just about any ordinary doctor.

"Mr Wright it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Will Henderson, I'm sure Matt's introduced me to you before." Will said smiling.

"Mr Henderson before I start I would like to ask you one question. I may be blunt but I have to know if I'm going to have to be your lawyer. Did you kill your younger brother Max? Did you have someone kill your brother Max?" Phoenix asked cutting straight to the point.

Matt looked surprised that Phoenix had asked his brother something like that. Will looked troubled for a moment. He hesitated for a second before replying, "No."

At that split second Phoenix saw two psyche – locks appear. He frowned. So does that mean that he did kill his younger brother?

"Alright thank you. I need to ask you a couple of questions. At the time of your brother's death where were you?"

"I was downstairs talking to some of the other doctors at the hospital about this research that they were investigating. I heard scream and ran upstairs to find my brother dead with a knife protruding from his chest and Grace lying by the doorway fainted." Will explained.

"Thank you, we'll now leave you and go to the crime scene to find out more things. I'll see you later Mr. Henderson." Phoenix said getting up.

As they left the Detention Centre, Matt rounded up Phoenix confused about the interrogation.

"Mr. Wright why didn't you ask my brother to fill in the legal papers asking you to be his lawyer?"

Phoenix sighed and hung his head. "Because.... your brother is hiding something from us Matt. I need to go back to the crime scene and find some evidences so that I can get your brother to tell us the full truth. It is the only way I can help him, if he tells us the truth." Phoenix said walking away towards the car park.

**30 minutes later at the Henderson Manor**

Phoenix searched around trying to spot Detective Gumshoe, but as usual he was nowhere to be found. He glanced back at Matt and immediately felt pity for the young man; he seemed to be so troubled, if this turned out to be wrong he would loose both his brothers on one day. Trying to change the subject, Phoenix tried to start up a conversation again.

"So Matt... Where are your parents I don't seem to see them anywhere?" Phoenix asked still looking around.

"Um... that's because they passed away last week. That's the reason there is all this debate about the share of wealth between my brothers." Matt said quietly.

Phoenix cringed inwardly, he could practically see Edgeworth shaking his head, Mia slapping her forehead in shame, Maya and Pearls standing gob smacked and Franziska screaming 'FOOL!'

"I'm really sorry to hear that Matt. Um... oh there's Detective Gumshoe!" Phoenix said quickly walking away to avoid any further embarrassment.

The pair walked over to the scruffy looking Detective and greeted him.

"Hello Detective." Phoenix said trying to look cheerful in a crime scene.

"Hey pal, so you're gonna be his lawyer after all, huh? I feel sorry for ya pal, real sorry. Like I said that guy's got a mountain of evidences stacked against him." Gumshoe said shaking his head.

When Gumshoe finally noticed Matt standing next to Phoenix, he grinned awkwardly. He obviously hadn't meant to say anything in front of Matt but looks like his mouth had a different mind of its own.

"Alright pal, since I feel bad for ya an' all I'll let you ask me anything that you want, of course I won't share the evidences with you." Gumshoe said crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Thanks Detective. Could you explain to us about the crime?" Phoenix asked his book ready to take notes.

"Right. The guy Max he stabbed himself in the chest an' all with an ordinary kitchen knife. A few inches to the right and he would've got his heart. The suspect killed his brother by poisoning his brother with cyanide. We've got the bottle an' all that he sued ya know."

Gumshoe nodded his head, grinning. His phone suddenly rang; he took one look at it and paled. "That's all I got to give ya, pal. You're by yourself now. I've got a call from the prosecutor now. See ya later pal." Gumshoe said leaving.

Phoenix tucked his note pad into his jacket and rubbed his forehead in frustration that he didn't get much information. He turned around and faced Matt.

"You know that this is not looking very good for your brother right now. We haven't got much evidence to go on either." He sighed. Sliding his points into his pocket he looked around. "Matt could you take me to Max's room please?"

"Sure Mr. Wright. I know what you're saying but I honestly don't think that Will would have killed Max. There is just no way. I don't know but I've got this gut feeling that he really isn't the killer." Matt said looking desperate and confused.

Phoenix looked at Matt and felt like his conscience was agreeing with Matt. He wasn't so sure why but he didn't think that Will was the killer, _but if not him then who is the real killer? And what really is Will hiding? Why would Max want to kill himself?_ Phoenix thought puzzled.

"I'm not sure either Matt, but first before we jump to any conclusions lets go find ourselves some evidences."

Matted nodded sullenly, and lead the way to Max's room. They walked through long corridors and finally stopped by the doorway of large room. It was quite plain looking with a King sized bed in the middle and two large windows by either side. It also had air conditioning and a heating system as well.

Phoenix stepped into the room and the first thing he noticed was that both windows in the room was open. He frowned. _Now why would someone trying to commit suicide keep their windows open?_

By the table next to the bed he noticed that there was an untouched cup of tea. Again he frowned. _Why did he want tea before he died?_

Phoenix rubbed his chin thinking. He walked over to the windows and bent down near the locks. His eyes widened in surprise when he realised the window had a double way lock; it could be opened from the inside as well as the outside. He noted this down quickly in his book.

He sighed getting up; this definitely was not proving to be an easy case. He noticed the air conditioning and frowned, it had been used. It was the type that used water, so there were a few water droplets on the outside of the air conditioner. Again he noted this down in his book.

He remembered the cup of tea he saw as he entered the room. Careful not to touch it he looked at in detail. The tea had gone cold but there were no lip marks on the outside of the cup indicating that the victim had not drunk from it.

Acquiring all the evidences that he could get from the crime scene Phoenix turned to leave. As he was turning to walk away from the bedside he tripped on something. Looking down he noticed that it was a picture of Max when he was younger with a pretty woman standing next to him, holding his hand. He picked up the photo and looked at Matt; Matt walked over to him and looked at the photo.

"I didn't know he still kept this with him after all these years and after what happened. The police probably didn't notice it because the back of the frame is black s it probably didn't show that well from the carpet." Matt said slowly.

"Who is this woman? What exactly happened between her and your brother?" Phoenix asked still looking at the photo.

"That was Matt's girlfriend, she was a nice woman named Emily. She used to come to the house often. Well I was only about 13 when this happened so I'm not entirely sure but well from what I'd heard, Emily hung herself after Max dumped her.

Apparently he dumped her right after he found out that she was pregnant. We're not entirely sure if she was pregnant or not though, Max said he dumped her because she was two – timing him." Matt said reminiscing the past.

Phoenix took out the photo from the frame and said to Matt, "Could you lead me to Will's room now please?"

**In Will's room**

_Wow I wish my room were like this. _ Phoenix thought wistfully, not because it was big but because it was clean and organised. He walked around the room trying to find some clues that could help him find the truth from Will.

He sighed and sat down by the desk when he could find no clues. He rubbed his forehead in frustration. He was about to give up when he noticed several papers on the desk. He frowned and looked at it.

His eyes widened as he read the subject discussed in these papers. _Euthanasia,_ Phoenix read silently in his head, _**Euthanasia**__ is the practice of ending a life in a painless manner_. He hid this quickly from Matt, if he was thinking what he was thinking, and then it is huge possibility that Will was in fact guilty.

"Matt lets go back to the Detention Centre I would like to speak to your brother some more." Phoenix said getting up.

"You've found something haven't you? Please Mr. Wright you have to believe me I really don't think that my brother is guilty!" Matt said desperately.

"Matt it's about time we found out the truth from your brother. I'm sorry please let's go."

**40 minutes later at the Detention Centre**

Will looked troubled when he saw the grim expression reflecting off of both Phoenix and Matt's faces. Sighing he prepared himself mentally.

Phoenix edged forward in his seat, getting ready to find out the all important truth.

"Mr Henderson let me ask you this question again. Have you killed or hired someone to kill your brother?"

"...No, Mr Wright. Do you have any evidence to prove that I did?"

"Yes, the police found a small bottle of poison covered with you fingerprints. What do you say to that?"

Will looked surprised; he immediately covered up his expressions. However Phoenix knew that he was going on the right track because on of the psyche locks just broke.

"I could have been set up. Why would I want to kill my brother? If you had done your investigation properly you would know that I was very close with my younger brother." Will said a little anger showing in his voice.

"Hmm...." Phoenix rubbed his chin deep in thought, "Well I wouldn't exactly say 'kill' per say, probably something along the lines of 'helping someone die'. These research files from your room seem to say so as well." Phoenix said confidently showing the papers he took from Will's room.

Matt looked surprised, and Will hung his head in shame as the second psyche- lock broke.

"...You've got it Mr Phoenix Wright. I was thinking of killing my brother...He had gone so depressed lately over something, he didn't tell anyone anything. He begged me one night to kill him...said he wanted to die...I-I couldn't.

Then I finally decided to put him to rest, I mixed some cyanide in his food, however in the morning he didn't eat breakfast in the house, so I add the rest of the cyanide in his tea...I am guilty, I did cause my brother's death... I'm sorry Matt..." Will said sadly.

Phoenix stood up, and turned around. He was sure now. He knew exactly what to do.

"Mr Henderson, make sure that you prepare the papers asking me to be your lawyer in court tomorrow. Matt stay with him and help fill in the papers, please."

Will and Matt looked up at him surprised.

"Mr. Wr-Wright, what are you saying? You can't defend me, you'll loose! I'm guilty! I don't want to escape my sentence!" Will exclaimed.

"Mr. Henderson calm down. Someone else poisoned your brother; your brother did not drink the tea that you gave him. You are innocent. I'll see you in court tomorrow." Saying that Phoenix left the Detention Centre.

As he was walking to the bus stop, he was thinking about the case. _As usual I have zero prep time, but I'm still missing one point. I know now that Will is not the killer but then who is? I guess I have to find out in court. And who is the new prosecutor?_


	3. Chapter 3 New Prosecutor

**Hey you guys, sorry about the delay, but yeah... I had to sort out other work as well...sorry...**

**Anyway! Thanks you guys for reading, pleas read again and enjoy this chapter as well!! Please review me, pleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaassssssseeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Thanks _Dragonridingattorney43_ for reviewing me again. Thanks for loving my story. Although you skimmed through it, I'm glad you actually took your time to read it. Hope you read this chapter and review as well. By the way I like your name... its coooll... I can imagine an attorney riding a dragon. Thanks for adding me as your favourite author again.**

**Hey thanks _Anmynous_ for the review. Sorry about my grammar, English wasn't really my strongest subject, now biology is a different matter. Thanks, I really wanted to know if I got the character's personality right. Please review me again. **

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**Hope you guys enjoy this chapter as well, thank you for reading and please, please, please** **review me.**

**Chapter 3 – New Prosecutor**

Maya fidgeted with the sleeves of her channelling costume. Pearls was sitting with her, looking at her worriedly, she wasn't sure what was going on but she could see that her older cousin Maya was panicking for the friend that she met only a day ago.

Pearls turned to glare at the back of Matt's head. Matt worried about the oncoming case, was pacing around the lobby looking down. As if sensing her icy glare, Matt turned to look at Pearls and smiled. Pearls puffed out her cheeks and turned her face away. She didn't like the way he was getting closer to Maya.

Matt frowned at her behaviour and looked at Maya. He walked over to her. "Maya calm down. It's going to be okay."

"N-no... You're panicking and I'm panicking, it's all making me panicky!" Maya said quickly, her cheeks going red with building frustration.

"Um... look Maya it's going to be okay. I'm sorry for bringing you into this as well. Please calm down, you're getting me and Pearls worried about you." Matt said frowning and smiling slightly.

"I'm sorry Matt; I guess I just carry bad luck around wherever I go. This is why Nick is still a stinky old poop living in poverty." Maya said sadly.

Phoenix who was busy going over the court records, sweat dropped when he heard Maya's words. _Well it doesn't really help when you ask me to defend your favourite actor or magician who's been arrested, free of charge!_ Phoenix thought bitterly.

"The defendant and his lawyer may proceed to the courtroom." The bailiff announced.

Phoenix stood up quickly, assembling his court records in a hurry. He looked over at Maya and Matt before moving. Sighing he decided to let Maya stay with Matt, otherwise she would get him flustered.

"Mr. Henderson please calm down, and I will get you a not guilty verdict." Phoenix turned around to Will and said.

"Thank you Mr Wright, although I'm better off getting a guilty verdict anyway." Will said sadly.

"Um, well, that may be so but we need to find your brother's killer don't we?" Phoenix said trying to console him.

"Yeah... I am guilty."

"Heh, heh, heh..." Phoenix laughed awkwardly. He quickly walked over to where Matt and Maya were currently standing with a very angry little medium.

"Maya, why don't you take a break and sit with Matt this time? Pearls can help me by channelling Mia." Phoenix asked gently.

"But Nick! What about you? I have to help you or you will get all flustered and die of a heart attack in your old age!" Maya said puffing her cheeks out.

Matt and Phoenix sweat dropped. _I will only get flustered if you're there with me Maya. And I'm not much older than you to begin with!_ Phoenix thought in his head.

"That's alright Maya. I'm sure Mia will keep me safe from dieing, don't worry about it, okay? Now then let's go." Phoenix said leading the way into the courtroom.

**8.00 AM**

**Court Room **

Phoenix stared at the top page of the court record. He was sure that Will was innocent, but exactly how was he going to prove it? It's not like he could get away with saying that he had a gut-feeling could he?

He was still staring at the court record when he noticed that the court room had gone silent. He looked up to find the Judge glaring at him.

"Um... hello?" Phoenix grinned awkwardly, biting his lower lip, and rubbing the back of his head.

"Right, Mr Wright. I suggest that you pay more attention in this court room if you want to save your client. I will repeat my question; is the defence ready?" The Judge asked. He squinted angrily at Phoenix.

"Oh... uh sorry about that. Anyway, the defence is ready your honour." Phoenix said looking forward. Hands on the table, chest pushed forward, Phoenix stood tall in his crisp blue suit.

~~crooommm~~

Phoenix bent over, and looked over at the pink faced Pearls who destroyed his 'strong and dashing young lawyer' look.

"Sorry Mr Nick, I forgot to eat breakfast." Pearls smiled apologetically.

"The prosecution is ready, your honour." A firm, steady voice was heard announcing this.

Phoenix looked up to see the new prosecutor. He cringed mentally, the prosecutor was female. The last time he underestimated a female prosecutor he had ended up unconscious with a mouthful of whip lashes on his body.

"Well done, Ms. Harrison, I see that you actually pay attention in court unlike some people." He turned to glare some more at Phoenix.

_Wow, what did Pearls do this time?_ Phoenix wondered.

"He's glaring at you genius." A familiar female voice sounded to his right. Mia was standing there looking at him angrily.

_Why is it that everyone's looking at me angry?_ Phoenix thought miserably. He looked at the profiles that the court record had. He read;

**Lucia Harrison aged 23. Studied law at Oxford University, England. **

He looked up at Ms. Harrison. She was of medium height, only a few inches shorter than Phoenix himself. She had light brown hair, two inches below her shoulder. A few strands fell over her eyes like a fringe. She was wearing a two piece suit that consisted of a short brown skirt that came up to the middle of her thighs, and short sleeved black shirt.

Feeling Phoenix's gaze on her, she turned and smiled at him. Phoenix looked away blushing.

"Ms. Fey, although you are technically dead, I hope I have the pleasure of battling you." Lucia said smiling at Mia.

Mia looked surprised. "Yes, well, I hope you are up to it kid, 'cause I was the one who trained Phoenix here."

"Ha, ha, don't worry Ms. Fey. I will uncover the truth today." Lucia laughed lightly.

"Right then if we are all ready and done ignoring me, we can move on to the case." The Judge said grumpily, banging his gavel. "Ms. Harrison, your opening statement please."

"Yes, your Honour. The prosecution states that the defendant Mr. William Henderson is guilty of murdering his younger brother Mr. Maxwell Henderson, by poisoning.

It has also been discovered that the victim did attempt suicide, by stabbing himself in the chest, however it has come to light this might also be due to the effects of the poison that he was served minutes before his death." Harrison said, flicking through papers from the court record.

When finished she looked up at the Judge, to see the kind old man smiling at her. She smiled back puzzled, she didn't understand why the Judge was looking at her as if she had just graduated from law school and made him proud.

_Why is it that the Judge always takes the prosecution's side? Why won't he ever smile at me like that?_ Phoenix thought miserably.

"Because you make stupid mistakes normal lawyers don't make, Phoenix." Mia said glaring at him.

_What is it? Glare at Phoenix day?_ Phoenix thought turning away from Mia.

"And I presume that the defence claims that the defendant Mr. William Henderson is not the murder, and would like to plead a complete acquittal, am I right, Mr. Wright?" The Judge asked, smiling at the pun he just made.

"Yes... Your Honour." Phoenix said grimacing.

"Alright then. Ms Harrison you may summon your first witness to the stand." The Judge said nodding, and looking at Ms. Harrison.

Lucia frowned as she took a minute to check her witness profiles before summoning the maid of the Henderson manor to the stand.

"You can take a leaf from her book, Phoenix. She checks her court record, before making any decisions. This way she will prevent herself from making any stupid mistakes like you." Mia said, rubbing her chin and looking at Lucia attentively.

_Books have leaves? I didn't know that, wait, paper is made of leaves right? I guess that's what Mia meant. Silly me, but which book should I steal the paper from?_ Phoenix thought hard.

Mia slapped her forehead and continued to glare at Phoenix.

The maid of the Henderson manor, an old lady with tanned wrinkled face had a kind expression on her face. She had been serving the Henderson family for 30 years, and she had looked after the Henderson brother as if they were her very own grandchildren.

"Witness, your name and occupation please." Lucia Harrison said with a steady firm voice.

"Alice Darwin. I have been a maid for the Henderson family for 30 years."

"Thank you, Ms. Darwin. Could you please testify as to what you saw when you discovered the body of the victim, Mr Maxwell Henderson."

**Witness Testimony**

"It was about 5 in the evening; this is normally the time that I serve tea to the Henderson house hold. Max was acting especially strange that day.

Will suggested that I serve some tea to Max to help cool him down. It was earlier than usual, by about four. After serving the tea, I went to do the rest of the house work. Grace helped me; she is such a sweet girl.

She got worried since Max wasn't coming down after about an hour, we decided to go check on him. His room door was locked, we called out to him, but he didn't reply. We asked the butler to break down the door, and we found Max lying in a pool of blood with a knife protruding from his chest." Ms. Darwin finished sadly.

_Hmm, this isn't helping. This sounds exactly the way Matt explained it to me. The witness would have no reason to lie either, or would she?_ Phoenix thought rubbing his chin. _I can feel the noose around my neck tightening right now; I have to figure this out!_


	4. Chapter 4 Lucia Harrison

**Sorry for taking so long guys, but I couldn't write anything for a while because... well I was feeling demotivated, but after reading your reviews I felt motivated again. This chapter is a bit short, I'm really sorry I'll make up for it in the next chapter, promise!!**

**Thanks ****Dragonridingattorney43**** for the review, I'm glad you liked the chapter, hope you like this one as well, and please review. Thanks again!!**

**Thank you ****pokemon2471 **** for the review, I'm glad you think that way, because the reason I started writing this fic was because I couldn't find anything to pass my time while I was waiting for the next Phoenix Wright game, so yeah... I decided to write it...I still haven't got the game.**

**Guys, I've also done my profile page, so you could take a look, and please tell me what you think about it. **

**I absolutely have to make this recommendation, watch HAJIME NO IPPO, it is soooo good!!**

**Chapter 4 – Lucia Harrison**

Phoenix quickly replayed the testimony he just heard again in his head.

"_It was about 5 in the evening; this is normally the time that I serve tea to the Henderson house hold. Max was acting especially strange that day._

_Will suggested that I serve some tea to Max to help cool him down. It was earlier than usual, by about four. After serving the tea, I went to do the rest of the house work. Grace helped me; she is such a sweet girl._

_She got worried since Max wasn't coming down after about an hour, we decided to go check on him. His room door was locked, we called out to him, but he didn't reply. We asked the butler to break down the door, and we found Max lying in a pool of blood with a knife protruding from his chest." _

"Traces of cyanide was found in the cup of tea that was served to the victim your Honour." Harrison said, alerting Phoenix back to the present.

"Hmm, well from this, I could say that the defendant is the murderer, and the cup of tea is the decisive evidence." The judge said, he was about to bang his gavel, when...

"OBJECTION!" Phoenix shouted from the top of his voice. Mia saw Harrison smile, she was sure that the young prosecutor was about to protest to the judge's decision.

"Yes Mr. Wright?" The judge asked his eyes widened.

"Please if you could turn to the court record, you will notice that the cup of tea did not have the victim's fingerprints, but more importantly there were no lip prints, which mean that the victim did not drink any of the tea. Furthermore the victim did not have any food or drink from the house." Phoenix replied triumphantly.

"Ah, I see where you're coming from, Mr. Wright, but you cannot ignore the facts. As you know the victim was poisoned with cyanide, the same stuff that the defendant used. As the defendant is a doctor, there are other ways to get the cyanide into the victim's body, do you not agree, Mr Wright?" Harrison asked pleasantly.

Phoenix blinked stupidly for a while, _Wow I think the world is going to end. A prosecutor was just nice to me! _

"Ahem." Mia fake coughed.

"OBJECTION! That is...um...objectionable!" Phoenix said pointing his finger at Harrison.

Mia slapped her head. Harrison sweat dropped. Matt stifled a laugh. Maya's jaw practically dropped to the floor. Even the defendant was trying his best to suppress his laughter.

"That's it! I can't take any more of this. The court is adjourned!" The judge banged his gavel and left.

"I made him mad, didn't I?" Phoenix asked Mia nervously, who glared at him so strongly, that he gulped and stepped back a bit. At once, Mia's spirit left Pearls' body, and an unconscious Pearls fell into Phoenix's arms.

Phoenix breathed in relief and carried Pearls to the defendant's lobby. The others were waiting for him there. Maya's face currently mirrored the face her sister sported a while ago. Matt and Will on the other hand were smiling. Before Maya could say anything Matt spoke up.

"Mr. Wright, good going there, buying us more time. You knew we didn't have enough evidence to win the case. This will give us another day to find all the evidence that we need." Matt said enthusiastically.

"Ah-ah, that's right." Phoenix laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

"Um, Mr Wright I hope you don't mind but I thought I could stay over at Maya's place, because... well I didn't want to go back to my place." Matt said nervously, as Maya forgot her anger and blushed slightly.

"Of course not. Why are you asking me? I'm not her guardian, but be careful both of you." Phoenix said smiling as Matt and Maya blushed.

Maya and Matt left for Kurain village with a reluctant Pearl in tow immediately after Will was taken back to the Detention Centre. Phoenix sighed and buried his head in his hands tired. He looked through the court records again trying to find a piece of evidence that will help him solve the case. However to his dismay, he found none.

Dejectedly, he packed all his things and left. As he was leaving the building, he heard someone shout his name. At first he thought he was just imagining it and kept walking without turning around to look, but then the voice just got louder, and footsteps accompanied it, which finally caused him to look back.

His eyes widened in surprise as he saw that the person calling out to him was the young female prosecutor that he was battling with. The battle that he was loosing, quite pitifully at the moment. He stepped back lightly, wondering if the prosecutor had come to insult him or to threaten him about the case.

"Mr. Wright!" The young prosecutor panted. She bent double trying to regain her breath. After a while she straightened up, fixing her skirt, she held out her hand, smiling.

"It was great working with you Mr. Wright. You're different from what I expected." She said smiling.

Phoenix reluctantly shook her hand. "Um...you too I guess."

"So is that in a good way, or a bad way?" Seeing Phoenix's confused look, she laughed. Phoenix smiled.

"So you're not here to threaten me, or insult me?" He asked hesitantly. Harrison had a blank expression on her face, then a smile broke out.

"Of course not, Mr. Wright! Why would I threaten you or insult you? As long is the bad guy is behind bars, or the innocent is set free, I don't really mind who wins prosecutor or attorney." She said smiling. "Uh, well I have to go now, but I'll probably see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Phoenix asked confused.

"Well, at the victim's girlfriend's house. You were thinking about her, right?" She asked expectantly.

"O-Of course, I was. I'll see you there." Phoenix said nervously.

"Right, then. Bye, Mr. Wright."


	5. Chapter 5 PREVIEW

Hi guys, I'm really sorry that I took ages to update. You see I had sprained my thumb and wasn't able to write anything for a while, and now I've got to catch up on three essay all due in next week. Today I finally completed the experiments I had been working on for three weeks!!! So again I'm really sorry and thanks for all your support.

Before you read this, THIS IS JUST A PREVIEW! I haven't had the time to complete, I'll probably get it done by this weekend so please give me sometime. Meanwhile you could read this and tell me what you think about it.

Thanks Dragonridingattorney43 for your review. Please review me to tell me what you think about this preview.

Thanks Paradice-cream for reviewing. Thank you very much, I wanted to know if people felt the same way I did while I was writing this. I wanted it to be just like it would be in the game. Please review.

Thanks pokemon2471 for the review, as I had said earlier I'm very glad you think the same way. Thanks for adding me in your favourites by the way, and please review about your thoughts on this preview.

Thanks guys, and please review!!

October 15 – 9 AM

Grace's Apartment

Phoenix walked slowly towards the victim's girlfriend's apartment from the nearby bus stop. It was at times like this that he wished that he had gotten a driving licence. He recalled the testimony from yesterday's court trial and the detailed account that Matt had told him, when he had gone to check the crime scene for the first time on October the 13th.

He turned a corner as the 'apartment' came into view. It was big. It was one of those high tech buildings with a lot of space that could fit an entire a family of four, including two pet guard dogs.

_Wow, if this is an apartment, then I'm big pink gorilla who's a Pink Princess fan._ Phoenix thought as he watched the so called 'apartment' in awe. Shaking out of his stupor, he walked forward taking in every detail. He took out his pen and book pad, just in case something interesting caught his eye. But what caught his eye wasn't what he was expecting...

"HEY YOU, WHIPPERSNAPPER!!" A familiar voice shouted across the road. Phoenix gulped and braced himself. In less than 10 seconds Ms. Oldbag was standing in front of him, huffing and puffing.

"Hello Ms. Oldbag, it's nice to see you again." Phoenix greeted, choosing his words carefully.

"Well it certainly isn't nice to see you whippersnapper! What haven't got a change of girl yet?" She smirked at Phoenix.

"C-Change of w-what?!" Phoenix's eyes bulged out in shock.

"Don't 'what' me, young whippersnapper! Everytime I see you, you have a different female assistant with you, dont'cha?" She asked crossing her arms in front of her.

_Oh boy._ Phoenix thought wryly. "Uh, no ma'am, Maya and Pearls are both back at their village in the mountains. I came to talk with Ms. Grace."

"What do you need to talk to her for, spiky-head? You getting more people into trouble?!" She asked angrily, breathing heavily.

_S-Spiky head...?_ Phoenix thought sadly. Just then as if fate had decided to rescue him, Julia Harrison turned the corner. She saw Phoenix trying to reason with Ms. Oldbag and decided to help out.

"Mr. Wright! There you are! I've been searching all over!" She shouted and crossed the road over to where they were standing.

"EH?!" Both Phoenix and Ms. Oldbag chorused unintelligently.

"Hi there Ms. Oldbag! It's very nice to see you again, but I've got work to do, and so does Mr. Wright. You see I can't let him wasate time like this, I'm really sorry but I'd have to steal him from you." Lucia 'apologised'. Instead of shouting, Ms. Oldbag just smiled at her.

"That's alright, young'un. It's Mr. Porcupine that I have trouble with, not you!" Ms Oldbag reassured her.

"M-Mr... P-Porcupine...?" Phoenix asked defeated. Before he could say anything else, Lucia grabbed his arm and steered him towards the crime scene.

"Don't take it too badly Mr. Wright; Ms. Oldbag is just a sweet old lady who likes to talk a lot. I shouldn't really allow you to investigate the crime scene, but I'll make an exception. I'm not entirely sure that the defendant is guilty either." Lucia said thoughtfully.

"Then why do you prosecute him?"

"Well I never really had a choice you see, this is part of my final examination to lead a case, Mr. Edgeworth was supposed to mentor me, but since he is out of the country I have to do this by myself."

"Wait a second that means if you fail, then you fail your degree right?"

"I guess so, but let's not be pessimistic, alright? Our duty as officers of law is to catch the real suspect and put him or her behind bars." She said enthusiastically. Phoenix smiled at her; she seemed different to a lot of prosecutors.

"So what made you want to become a prosecutor?" Phoenix asked out of curiosity.

"I suppose it's the same reason as Mr. Edgeworth. I want to send the criminals to prison and the innocent to freedom. If I become a defence attorney I'll only be able to take certain cases, but as a prosecutor I will make sure that the defendant is the actual criminal before prosecuting." Lucia explained.

"Well I guess we haven't got much time, so we should probably get going now. Since I have to abide by the rules I won't be able to help you with your investigation. I'll see you later then Mr. Wright." With that she left for the crime scene.


	6. Chapter 6 Grace Michelle

**Hey you guys, I'm sorry that I took longer than I thought. Thanks for all your reviews and support. And since you guys were concerned, I sprained my thumb during one of my martial arts classes, the guy I was sparring with repeatedly punched my fist instead of my chest!! **

**Anyway, I feel better now, and I've written quite a bit, hope you like it. Also I won't be able to write for a while since I'm going to Bristol next week on summer school thing, and I'll be gone on holiday this summer to India!!! **

**Guys another thing, I hope you don't mind but you see I have to write about my extracurricular activities and how they affect other people, and I was going to mention fanfiction, and you guys since I wanted to say that I had made some friends online. If you don't want me to mention you, please let me know while you review me.**

**Thanks **_Dragonridingattorney43_ **for asking, I'm glad you were concerned. I'm glad you liked the preview, and yeah it always cracked me up everytime I read something about Phoenix's hair.**

**Thanks **_pokemon2471_** for enjoying the preview. Yeah, I love Edgeworth, he is soooooo cool. Ahem, um sorry about that, where was I? Oh yeah... about Lucia I'm not sure yet but I guess you've got to wait and see.**

**Thanks **_Paradice-cream_** for your review. My thumb is much better thanks. Yeah, yeah, Edgeworth will be here soon, there's no way he's going to be left out of my story. Did I mention that I really like him?**

**Guys, I hope you enjoy this chapter as well, since I've completed it, please tell me what you think about it. See you later! ^_^!!!**

**Chapter 5 - Grace Michelle**

**October 15 – 9 AM**

**Grace's Apartment**

Phoenix walked slowly towards the victim's girlfriend's apartment from the nearby bus stop. It was at times like this that he wished that he had gotten a driving licence. He recalled the testimony from yesterday's court trial and the detailed account that Matt had told him, when he had gone to check the crime scene for the first time on October the 13th.

He turned a corner as the 'apartment' came into view. It was big. It was one of those high tech buildings with a lot of space that could fit an entire a family of four, including two pet guard dogs.

_Wow, if this is an apartment, then I'm big pink gorilla who's a Pink Princess fan._ Phoenix thought as he watched the so called 'apartment' in awe. Shaking out of his stupor, he walked forward taking in every detail. He took out his pen and book pad, just in case something interesting caught his eye. But what caught his eye wasn't what he was expecting...

"HEY YOU, WHIPPERSNAPPER!!" A familiar voice shouted across the road. Phoenix gulped and braced himself. In less than 10 seconds Ms. Oldbag was standing in front of him, huffing and puffing.

"Hello Ms. Oldbag, it's nice to see you again." Phoenix greeted, choosing his words carefully.

"Well it certainly isn't nice to see you whippersnapper! What haven't got a change of girl yet?" She smirked at Phoenix.

"C-Change of w-what?!" Phoenix's eyes bulged out in shock.

"Don't 'what' me, young whippersnapper! Everytime I see you, you have a different female assistant with you, dont'cha?" She asked crossing her arms in front of her.

_Oh boy._ Phoenix thought wryly. "Uh, no ma'am, Maya and Pearls are both back at their village in the mountains. I came to talk with Ms. Grace."

"What do you need to talk to her for, spiky-head? You getting more people into trouble?!" She asked angrily, breathing heavily.

_S-Spiky head...?_ Phoenix thought sadly. Just then as if fate had decided to rescue him, Julia Harrison turned the corner. She saw Phoenix trying to reason with Ms. Oldbag and decided to help out.

"Mr. Wright! There you are! I've been searching all over!" She shouted and crossed the road over to where they were standing.

"EH?!" Both Phoenix and Ms. Oldbag chorused unintelligently.

"Hi there Ms. Oldbag! It's very nice to see you again, but I've got work to do, and so does Mr. Wright. You see I can't let him waste time like this, I'm really sorry but I'd have to steal him from you." Lucia 'apologised'. Instead of shouting, Ms. Oldbag just smiled at her.

"That's alright, young'un. It's Mr. Porcupine that I have trouble with, not you!" Ms Oldbag reassured her.

"M-Mr... P-Porcupine...?" Phoenix asked defeated. Before he could say anything else, Lucia grabbed his arm and steered him towards the crime scene.

"Don't take it too badly Mr. Wright; Ms. Oldbag is just a sweet old lady who likes to talk a lot. I shouldn't really allow you to investigate the crime scene, but I'll make an exception. I'm not entirely sure that the defendant is guilty either." Lucia said thoughtfully.

"Then why do you prosecute him?"

"Well I never really had a choice you see, this is part of my final examination to lead a case, Mr. Edgeworth was supposed to mentor me, but since he is out of the country I have to do this by myself."

"Wait a second that means if you fail, then you fail your degree right?"

"I guess so, but let's not be pessimistic, alright? Our duty as officers of law is to catch the real suspect and put him or her behind bars." She said enthusiastically. Phoenix smiled at her; she seemed different to a lot of prosecutors.

"So what made you want to become a prosecutor?" Phoenix asked out of curiosity.

"I suppose it's the same reason as Mr. Edgeworth. I want to send the criminals to prison and the innocent to freedom. If I become a defence attorney I'll only be able to take certain cases, but as a prosecutor I will make sure that the defendant is the actual criminal before prosecuting." Lucia explained.

"Well I guess we haven't got much time, so we should probably get going now. Since I have to abide by the rules I won't be able to help you with your investigation. I'll see you later then Mr. Wright." With that she left for the crime scene.

Phoenix turned to see her walking back in the opposite direction; he looked confused for a while until Detective Gumshoe came to relieve him off his confusion. "Hey pal, watcha doin' here?"

"Uh, I'm here to investigate Detective. Ms. Harrison didn't mind, she even helped me to get here." Phoenix said turning around to face him.

"Yeah she's a good one, but she ain't gonna help you now pal, she had done all her investigation here a long time ago, she said she needed to check something back at the crime scene for now. C'mon pal, ask me anything I'll see if I can help you." Detective Gumshoe said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"So what did you think of the trial yesterday, Detective?"

"Well, uh, it wasn't your best pal. The defendant is sure as guilty, and you don't stand a chance against the prosecutor. You ain't seen her angry yet, I tell ya it's a scary sight."

"Uh...okay, so did you find anything else? Have you got the autopsy report?"

"Yep, here ya go. That's your copy. The victim died between 4 – 5pm. One stab wound to the chest, and poisoned by a low dosage of cyanide."

"Hmm, so have you found out if the victim died due to the stab wound or the cyanide?"

"Not yet pal, it's difficult to tell. But from what I hear he stabbed himself first but the cyanide probably killed him faster. The forensics haven't confirmed it yet, apparently the heater and cooler was turned on at the same time, so that changed the um...rigland mortar? No, it was the ring mother...yeah well it was somethin' like that." The detective ended indignantly.

_It's Rigamortis, Mr. 'Detective'. I wonder how he got to be a detective without knowing this._ Phoenix thought sarcastically.

"That's it pal, I've got to go now, back to the crime scene and help the prosecutor. She's got to assemble the rest of the case by tonight. I'll see ya in court tomorrow." Saying that the detective disappeared off to the crime scene.

"Alright, it's time to get to work." Phoenix said to himself as he walked into the apartment. Again he stopped to look at the intricate designs in awe.

Sighing he walked up to the receptionist and asked for Grace's apartment room. Acquiring the information that he needed he walked up to room no. 202. He trudged up the stairs slowly since the lift wasn't working. The minute he reached Grace's room, he pressed the bell hearing its melodic music ring through out the inside of the room. After about 20 seconds, a young woman aged about 24 answered the door. Her dark brown hair was combed into a high ponytail and her emerald eyes sparkled with freshly shed tears.

"Um, you're Will's defence attorney, right?"

"That's Wright."

"So Mr....?"

"That's Wright."

"No, I meant your name. I asked what your name was."

"And I said it's Wright. My name is Phoenix Wright."

"Oh...um, sorry I didn't realise." She said, smiling awkwardly.

"No problem, many make mistakes, some do it on purpose. I hope I'm not disturbing you, but I hope you don't mind me asking you some questions." Phoenix said. _I guess I am disturbing but...oh well!_ "So Ms...?"

"Grace Michelle, nice to meet you. Please come in, Mr Wright."

Together they both stepped in; just like the rest of the apartment the inside of the room was beautiful. Everything was decorated neatly with a simple touch, but just like Ms. Michelle the room had a sad atmosphere.

"Please wait here for a minute, I'll make some tea."

"Oh no, that's not necessary." Phoenix protested but the Ms. Michelle brushed him off and went into the kitchen. Phoenix took that time to look around and take in the details of his surrounding. Nothing seemed out of place, everything was quite normal. He was about to give up and return to waiting when out of the corner of his eyes he noticed a photo frame sticking out the bottom of the tea table. Gingerly he picked out the photo frame and looked at it. He bit back a surprised gasp; the picture consisted of a younger Grace Michelle hugging none other than the late ex-girlfriend of the victim, Emily.

A noise interrupted Phoenix from his stupor, quickly he stashed the photo frame were it was and tried to retrieve his normal expression. Ms. Michelle just then came through to the living room and placed a cup of tea in front of him. She went back in to wash her hands, while Phoenix took the opportunity to take her fingerprints.

"Alright since I don't have a database containing Ms. Michelle's fingerprints, I guess I have to record it myself. Where are the aluminium powder and the cello tape?" Phoenix spoke to himself, as he dabbed a bit of aluminium powder over her finger prints on the cup of tea and blew them out. Once he had gotten a clear print, he immediately placed cello tape on it and retracted the fingerprint. He stuck the clear print in his notebook and quickly wiped the cup of tea, as Ms. Michelle returned.

"So Ms. Michelle, do you not have any family living here with you?"

"No, not really. My parents had died when I was ten; my older sister looked after me from then. Emily was amazing; she was beautiful, intelligent and funny. She died just a while ago, so I'm living by myself."

"Well, I'm really sorry to have heard that. So Ms. Michelle where were you at the time of the murder?"

"I was here until 4.30 pm and then I left for Max's around 4.30, I reached by about 4.50 pm. Then... then..." She started crying uncontrollably. Phoenix just looked in disbelief, he didn't know what to say or do. Deciding that he had gotten all the information that he had wanted, he decided to leave.

"Um... I guess I've got to leave now Ms. Michelle, but thank you very much for your cooperation." Phoenix bowed; he only got nods in reply from the sobbing woman. He smiled slightly and left the living room, on his way out he noticed something in the bin. Frowning he picked up the tiny pink crumpled piece of paper and eased it out. It was a receipt from a taxi ride, it was dated 4.30 pm. Phoenix didn't know whether this would be useful or not but he decided to keep it in the Court Record, just in case.

**20 minutes later.**

Phoenix stood inside the victim's room; he decided to have a look at the crime scene one last time. There was nothing out of the ordinary in the room, it was just as the last time he came here, but there was something different, he couldn't place his finger on it but there was definitely something different. He shook his head off his absurd thoughts and went to the back of the house, and stood directly behind the victim's room. He had a look at the window again; he didn't know what to make of it. The plants around the window had slightly yellowed by the tip for some unknown reason. Without thinking he plucked off the tip of one of the plants and placed it in the Court Record.

As he decided to leave his foot knocked something over, looking down he saw that it was tiny bottle which was labelled cyanide. He carefully bent down and searched the bottle for fingerprints, his eyes widened as he recognised the fingerprint.

Sighing he carefully placed the bottle in the Court Record. Shaking his head dejectedly he left for the office. Hoping unenthusiastically that he never face the case tomorrow.


End file.
